LinkedIn Accused Of Slut-Shaming After Removing Ad Of Sexy Engineer

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking website, so it makes sense that many companies would want to advertise their business there. One suggestion: maybe try to not make your engineering ad look a little too much like an ad for an “adult friend.”

The company in question is called TopTal. Their advertisement read “We Recruit Top Engineers And Bring Them To You Fast! $1800-$2800/wk. Try For 2 Weeks, Risk-Free.” The wording is pretty ambiguous to begin with, but the photo next to it was what attracted the most attention. As the UK’s Daily Mail reported, the woman pictured, Florencia Antara, is in fact an engineer, but she was photographed in a way that made her not exaaactly look like a woman working in an office. Instead of photographing her in professional clothing Florencia wore an off-the-shoulder shirt with tousled hair. She looks kind of like an ’80s teen idol.

LinkedIn removed the ad and was quickly accused of sexism and slut shaming by TopTal’s CEO, Taso Du Val, who claimed the site was sexist in assuming a beautiful woman couldn’t possibly be an engineer. The problem with the ad, however, is not that Antara is beautiful, but rather that she was photographed in a way that emphasized her sexuality rather than her abilities as an engineer. To make matters more complicated, most of TopTal’s other ads don’t actually picture engineers. Instead, stock photos or actresses, such as Amanda Schull are used. It seems more like TopTal is leading more with physical beauty — a curious decision for a site claiming to be about engineering.

After confirming the validity of the ad, LinkedIn has allowed the ads to be reposted to the website.

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